T-Mobile agrees to pay $500m to end 2021 hack lawsuit

AppleInsider

T-Mobile has proposed a settlement of $500 million to end a class-action lawsuit following the August 2021 customer data breach.

In August 2021, it was reported that millions of customer accounts were stolen from T-Mobile, accounts that were then attempted to be sold via hacker forums. In the wake of the major breach, T-Mobile became the subject of a class-action lawsuit, and has come up with a settlement proposal to end the legal activity.

At the time, the breach was said to have concerned either 47.8 million accounts or 100 million, with T-Mobile insisting that it was the lower amount. Most of the data was also said to be records of former and prospective customers who had previously applied for credit via the carrier.

Under the settlement, that figure has become 76.6 million U.S. residents, reports The Verge.

The lawsuit accused T-Mobile of failing to protect its customer's data, not properly notifying affected individuals, and having "inadequate data security." T-Mobile denies the allegations in the agreement, insisting that the settlement isn't an admission of guilt.

Under the settlement proposal, $350 million is destined for a settlement fund, which will be used to pay affected customers as well as deal with lawyer's fees and other costs. The remaining $150 million will be put towards "data security and related technology" investments in 2022 and 2023, above and beyond its existing planned spending.

The proposal was filed on Friday at the District Court for the Western District of Missouri, but still has to be approved by a judge. However, T-Mobile said in an SEC filing that while it anticipates having to make the payout, it "has the right to terminate the agreement under certain conditions."

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amar99

What per-person compensation...so $350M divided by the supposed 47.8M customers is a grand total of $7.32 per person. Or less, if more customers were affected. Is my math wrong? (350M / 47.8M) In other words, at a constant rate, the more people that were affected the less each person's personal data is worth, according to the courts.

ihatescreennames

amar99 said:

What per-person compensation...so $350M divided by the supposed 47.8M customers is a grand total of $7.32 per person. Or less, if more customers were affected. Is my math wrong? (350M / 47.8M) In other words, at a constant rate, the more people that were affected the less each person's personal data is worth, according to the courts.

FTA: “ Under the settlement, that figure has become 76.6 million U.S. residents, reports The Verge.”

Call it about $4.50 per person but that doesn’t account for lawyers fees and other costs also coming out of that $350 million. 

I find it interesting that the affected people were former or prospective customers. That means some people who actually get a little money out of this may not have ever been customers of T-Mobile. Still sucks they had their data breached, especially from a company they may never have done business with. 

wonkothesane

amar99 said:

What per-person compensation...so $350M divided by the supposed 47.8M customers is a grand total of $7.32 per person. Or less, if more customers were affected. Is my math wrong? (350M / 47.8M) In other words, at a constant rate, the more people that were affected the less each person's personal data is worth, according to the courts.

AFAIK your math is wrong. First, the attorneys take they lie cut. The reminding money will  be divided by the number of individuals that joined the class - if you didn’t sign up, in the words of the android Bishop “no money”. 

FileMakerFeller

"Oh. Your data was compromised and now you worry you're going to have your identity stolen? Well, we'll try to improve our security - here's a cup of coffee."

jcs2305

FileMakerFeller said:

"Oh. Your data was compromised and now you worry you're going to have your identity stolen? Well, we'll try to improve our security - here's a cup of coffee."

Same cup of coffee Equifax gave half the country in 2017..smh. Oops sorry